Lions QB Matthew Stafford is congratulated by teammates Dominic Raiola, left, and Drew Stanton right after their 38-37 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

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The clock read 0:00, but Matthew Stafford kept scrambling, kept surviving, kept searching for a way to keep alive a game initially declared dead early in the first quarter. His heart raced at a velocity comparable to the rockets fired from his right arm.

He finally found Calvin Johnson in the back of the end zone just milliseconds before an equally frenetic Cleveland rusher not so subtly introduced himself to the quarterback's exposed left shoulder.